By Dave Tomlinson
Triangle. 151 pages. £5.99
ISBN 0 281 04814 2
Holy Joes's is a church which meets on Tuesday nights in a pub in Clapham, south London. It is pastored by Dave Tomlinson and those who attend are united in the fact that they regard themselves as post-evangelicals.
The name Holy Joes is meant to be tongue-in-cheek - a statement not merely about the group itself, but about the general perception of Christians and church. The provocative nature of the name in many ways epitomises the pro-vocative nature of what Dave Tomlinson (and those for whom he speaks) want to say.
Off the edge
The man in question supplies us with a biographical sketch of himself and the group he is currently identified with. His roots were in the Brethren movement, but he spent some 20 years involved with the new churches. The 'post-evangelical' stage of his pilgrimage was reached as he 'became caught up with people who were either on the edges of evangelical and charismatic churches or who had fallen off the edges altogether' (p.12). It is extremely helpful to know where he is coming from and the kind of people he is dealing with as we listen to what he goes on to say.
From the very outset he makes it clear that there is no self-conscious movement which calls itself post-evangelical. He draws parallels with the character of New Ageism as something which permeates existing groups in society as opposed to deliberately creating a new one. He does offer, however, a definition of what qualifies a person to be regarded in this way. 'To be post-evangelical is to take as given many of the assumptions of evangelical faith, while at the same time moving beyond its perceived limitations.' (p.7). The crucial question which needs to be addressed as we evaluate what Tomlinson goes on to say is, what is 'taken as given' and what is deemed a 'limitation' which can be left behind?
Provisional truth
If we take the 'perceived limitations' first, we discover a breathtaking array. At the very core lies the nature of truth. He argues for the need to 'move away from the sense of certainty which characterises evangelicalism, to an understanding of truth as something more provisional and symbolic, and therefore less able to be put into hard and fast statements (p.87). Inevitably this had a major effect on his view of Scripture - chapter 8: 'Is the Bible the Word of God', unfolds his thinking in that realm. He commends Karl Barth's doctrine of the Word of God (p.112), but wants to move beyond it to see the Bible more in terms of metaphor and symbolic revelation. These views, coming some two-thirds of the way into the book, put in perspective his comments about evangelical thinking on the family, cohabitation, headship and homosexuality which come much earlier in the book.
When we begin to search expectantly for what Tomlinson regards as the 'givens' of the Christian faith - I am assuming he does not see himself as post-Christian - we find ourselves disappointed. Those things which have been historically central to the Christian faith - the Bible and the cross - are reinterpreted to the point of being almost beyond recognition. He illustrates his overall thesis by comparing evangelical Christianity to a 'flat-pack kit' while the post-evangelical variety is more akin to a Meccano set which has limitless permutations of construction (p.82). He attempts to guard himself against the charge of syncretism by saying: 'you cannot mix Meccano with Lego' (p.83). His idea of a 'given' is obviously different from that which has prevailed throughout the history of the Christian church.
Dismissive
Despite its relatively recent appearance, The Post-Evangelical has already been denounced publicly in some evangelical circles as 'confused'. It may be tempting to dismiss it as being off the radar screen of credibility, but that would be both unfair and unwise. We need to take seriously what is being put forward.
We should take it seriously out of pastoral concern. Dave Tomlinson draws attention to the vast numbers of ex-churchgoers around (p.12) and can only be commended for seeing them in need of ministry.
We should take it seriously because of the need for constructive self-examination. For all their stress upon examining ourselves, evangelicals have not always been very good at doing this comprehensively and successfully. It does not harm from time to time to have our evangelical complacency severely shaken by someone on the outside looking in. There are many aspects of the evangelical sub-culture which are identified and rightly challenged by Tomlinson which we would do well to reflect on carefully.
Cultural shift
The main reason why Dave Tomlinson needs to be taken seriously, however, regardless of the extent of our disagreement with him, is because he deals with issues which are challenging the whole framework of Western culture. The questions of epistemology and hermeneutics (how we know and how we interpret) lie at the heart of his work and also lie at the heart of much current debate in the scientific and philosophical world. The effects are slowly but surely being felt by everyone.
This book proposes full-scale rebellion against 'the old certainties' of evangelical religion, yet in so doing tears the heart out of any religion which can be meaningfully linked to the Bible. Biblical Christianity does offer certainty (1 John 5.13) and to deny that - despite Tomlinson's protestations to the contrary (pp. 101-102) - is to allow the ship of the Faith to slowly sink in the sea of relativism and pluralism. Mr. Tomlinson will not be surprised by this comment. He will probably regard it as cliched and therefore simply dismiss it. I would suggest if he seriously wants his former compatriots who still cherish the epithet 'evangelical' 'to listen to him, then he needs to listen more carefully to them.
